Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 16, NWS Wilmington, NC

May 30, 1986Columbus County, North Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 30, 1986, 7:10 PM EDT for Columbus County, North Carolina. It was in force for 65 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 30, 1986, 7:10 PM EDT (23:10 UTC)
Expired: May 30, 1986, 8:15 PM EDT
In force: 65 min
Issued by: NWS Wilmington, NC
Area: Whole counties

County Columbus County, NC

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 30, 8:10 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 0	Columbus, NC

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 11.2 hours before the alert went out and 231 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 1612 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -49 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 967 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -11 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 16 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 30, 4:35 PM EDT, 2 hours 35 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CAPE HATTERAS NC
430 PM EDT FRI MAY 30 1986

AT 425 PM EDT..STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTAINING VERY HEAVY RAINFALL
AMOUNTS AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING STRIKES WERE OVER THE SWAMPLANDS OF
WASHINGTON..TYRRELL..AND DARE COUNTIES TO THE SOUTH OF THE ALBEMARLE
SOUND.  OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALONG THE MOUTH OF THE PAMLICO
RIVER BETWEEN BAYBORO AND BELHAVEN.  THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO HALIFAX
AND NORTHHAMPTON COUNTIES SOUTH OF ROANOKE RAPIDS.

BOATERS ALONG THE INTERCOASTAL WATERWAY USING THE ALLIGATOR RIVER
SHOULD SEEK SAFE HARBOR. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTAIN FREQUENT
LIGHTNING STRIKES AND VISIBILITY WILL REDUCE TO AROUND ZERqO.

RADAR INDICATED THAT THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP ACROSS
MANY PORTIONS OF EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON.

BT

Special weather statement, May 30, 5:31 PM EDT, 1 hour 39 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CAPE HATTERAS NC
530 PM EDT FRI MAY 30 1986

AT 525 PM EDT..STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTAINING VERY HEAVY RAINFALL
AMOUNTS AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING STRIKES CONTINUED TO DEVELOP OVER
PORTIONS OF EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA.

MOST OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE AROUND THE ALBEMARLE SOUND REGION
WITH THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS REACHING FROM NEAR PLYMOUTH..TO
ROPER..TO CRESWELL. OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE JUST SOUTH OF
ELIZABETH CITY.

TORRENTIAL RAINS...FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING STRIKES...AND
POSSIBLY HAIL WILL ACCOMPANY THESE THUNDERSTORMS. AS THE THUNDERSTORMS
WERE SHOWING LITTLE SIGNS OF MOVEMENT...FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS
WILL BE LIKELY THIS AFTERNOON.

BT

Special weather statement, May 30, 6:32 PM EDT, 38 minutes before

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The office that day

Everything else NWS Wilmington, NC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 30, 4:50 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Sampson	55 min
May 30, 5:10 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Duplin	50 min
May 30, 6:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Duplin	60 min
May 30, 6:20 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Sampson	55 min
May 30, 6:55 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Bladen	50 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Carolina, 1986 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1986

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.